Reunite
by Julie S
Summary: Sequel to Rebuild. Jack and Rose found each other, but there was a missing side in their triangle. Jack/Rose/Tenth Doctor


The Doctor turns the last knob and pushes the last lever. He's off. Alone, again, but it's okay this time.

He's encountered Jack's footprint on the 20th century too often in the last few months. He doesn't know how the other man survived, but he's absolutely positive – and after all, he's a genius – that Jack did most of it after they met – and parted. Not before.

The TARDIS has locked into his bioprint and is tracking him through the timelines.

He bounds towards the door when the TARDIS finally stops and, when the door opens, he finds himself with an armful of female blonde who feels so familiar it startles him. He stares at Jack – who is grinning - over her shoulder, even as he recognises the voice when she cries, "Doctor!"

It cuts through him and he closes his arms around her. For a moment, he forgets Time.

* * *

"Don't know what happened," Rose says. "I was working for Torchwood there. One minute I was looking at some alien machinery and the next, I was in Cardiff. Lucky Jack was there too."

"Yeah, least you weren't hanging from a barrage balloon that time," Jack jokes, winking.

"Oi," she replies, laughing and jabbing him in the ribs.

The Doctor blinks. "And your phone? Could have called the TARDIS."

She shakes her head. "All left back in the other universe."

"I'm sorry. I should have checked for you from time to time." He grins brilliantly, suddenly. "Should have known you'd find a way back, Rose. My Rose."

* * *

"So how did you get around the 20th century, Jack? Stole another Chula timeship?" the Doctor asks conversationally later.

Jack shakes his head. "I went the long way, Doctor. Forgot to mention I woke up from a Dalek extermination one day, and haven't been able to die or age since."

The Doctor stares, not having expected that. "That's impossible."

"Simply difficult to grasp, Doctor," Jack says.

"At least you've got warning," Rose says. "I had to watch a demonstration."

* * *

Jack is sitting beside her on the pilot's seat, and she clasps his hand when everything suddenly overwhelms her.

The Doctor beams at them. "So, welcome back aboard then, Rose and Jack! Brilliant. Together again."

It doesn't quite feel like old times, though. They've never been together before – not Jack and this Doctor.

But then Glenn Miller resonates through the room and she's pulled to her feet. And it does.

* * *

Rose is sent to her old room when she's barely able to keep her eyes open any more, and Jack sits down again, looking at the Doctor soberly. "You know, for about a century after you left I wanted to kill you when I met you again."

The Doctor is silent for a few seconds. "I'm glad to see you changed your mind, then."

Jack wears a small smile. "Rose told me what happened. Took a while for me to cool off, but... she has that effect."

"Wondered why you didn't ask me who the hell I was."

"Oh, I knew you regenerated before that," Jack says, grinning now. "CCTV from Canary Wharf. Reports from the Sycorax invasion. But Rose did put all that into better perspective. She has that effect too."

The Doctor grins. "She does."

* * *

Rose wakes up only an hour or two later and can't fall back asleep.

She steps out into the console room to find the Doctor sitting in the pilot's seat. She sits in his lap and lays her head on his shoulder, breathing him in. "Missed you," she says as his arms come around her tightly.

"Yeah," he says, and she knows that's Doctor-speak for 'me too'. He kisses the top of her head.

"When do you get to sleep?"

"Oh, you know me," he says, smiling. "I'll grab a few hours when I need to."

"Doctor." She stands up and pulls him after her. He follows.

Instead of leading him to her room or even his, she heads for Jack's. Jack doesn't mind being woken up, and helps Rose strip the Doctor down to his pants before they pull him into bed with them.

They cradle the Doctor between them, and she can't believe she survived without them for so long.

* * *

Rose and Jack wake up alone. She snuggles into his side for long minutes, contemplating getting up to find the Doctor versus staying warm in bed with Jack.

Finally she sits up, kisses him on the cheek, and turns to head for her own room to get dressed.

He grabs her arm instead, and pulls her down for a proper kiss.

Rose grins all the way to the bathroom.

* * *

At breakfast she's sitting beside the Doctor, tea in front of her as well as a pastry he's assured her is okay for humans to eat. Jack is drinking his coffee black.

They tell the Doctor stories from Torchwood, of aliens, of false alarms that regularly happened in the middle of the night. "Spaceships always head for the lit part of the planet if they can help it. In the middle of the night, it's almost always a false alarm."

"Poor Jack. S'not like I didn't have to force you to sleep every night anyway," Rose says.

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "Should I be jealous?"

"Oh, Doctor." Rose leans over and kisses him like she'd never dared before, even when she was sleeping so close to him the night before.

Jack's grinning when they both turn to face him again, flushed.

* * *

After an eventful day, Rose falls asleep with Jack at her side but wakes up again to find herself alone. The dim light of the TARDIS tells her it's still night. "Men," she sighs, and finds her way to the console room to retrieve either of them.

She's got a speech prepared for them about not leaving her to sleep alone, but forgets it when she finds herself less than ten feet away from Jack, who is kissing the Doctor very firmly indeed.

Something inside her bubbles up. When they come apart and notice her, she takes both of them by the hand and leads them back to Jack's room.

That definitely isn't like old times, she reflects later as they lie in each other's arms, but it's better.

-fin-


End file.
